Almost four years after a Supreme Court judgement ruled in their favour 19 years after their sudden disengagement occasioned by several unfruitful appeals to highly-placed Nigerians to no avail, about 3,000 ex-employees of Nigerian Ports Authourity (NPA) have taken their case to the Presidency with an appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene.
The embattled disengaged workers said that they lost their jobs owing to government’s plans to commercialise NPA in 1991and alleged that subsequent managements of NPA have refused to pay them their entitlements, a development which led them to seeking legal redress at both high court and subsequently the Supreme Court.
In a petition to the President in which they detailed their travails, the ex-employees recalled that they “instituted a suit No LD/1827/92 to secure the payment of our entitlements from the Nigerian Ports Authority. The conclusion of the trial by the Honourable Justice A.R.A Shaid of the Lagos High Court was on 12th July, 1996 in favour of the retrenched staff”.
In the petition, which was sighted by our correspondent and signed by Engineer Sylvas Okoro, the embattled retrenched staff added that: “The court had declared that pension and redundancy should be paid to those of us who served the Nigerian Ports Authority for 10 years and above; but less than 15 years and that gratuity should be paid to those of us who served for 5 years and above but less than 10 years”.
“The Nigerian Ports Authority refused to honour the judgment of the High Court and went to the Appeal Court in suit N0 CA/L/425/97. This appeal was on the 16th Feb, 1998 dismissed for want of diligent prosecution. The Nigerian Ports Authority and its board ignored all communications from our lawyer for modalities to settle the ex – staff and went ahead to institute a fresh suit No LD/1021/99. This time, to set aside the judgment of A.R.A Shaid of the Lagos High Court. This new suit was dismissed as the spirit of estoppels rem-judicata was invoked. Our lawyer wrote again to NPA notifying her of the dismissal of the suit”.
According to the petitioners, the final straw was that NPA moved on to the Supreme Court in suit No SC/190/2003. “The judgment of this suit was on the 11th day of May 2007 entered in favour of the retrenched staff. This judgment of the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the high court of Lagos State by Hon Justice A.R.A Shaid”, they told the President.
Stressing that after the apex court ruling and subsequent refusal of NPA to obey, the matter was also taken to the Senate. “The Senate directed the managing director of NPA to comply based on the Supreme Court judgment. They refuse to obey. We went to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Alhaji Mohammed Adoke’s office with an appeal”, even as they expressed surprised at the effrontery of NPA management.
Calling on the President to use his good offices, the ex-workers noted that NPA made a deceitful and feeble attempt to pay them recently when they published in some national dailies that those affected should come forth with their bank details.
Pleading that they are entitled to 19 years pension arrears, the workers alleged that when they got to their banks, their accounts were credited with pensions ranging from N2, 000 to N2, 400, while some were not even paid at all.
“The payment which NPA said they had commenced is by sending N2,000 to John Dung’s Zenith Bank account, Mr. Shaib had N2,000 in his Zenith Bank account while Mr. G.Oni saw only N2, 400 in his Bank PHB account, Mrs. Ita in Calabar N2,200 at Spring Bank, Mr. Maghalu N2,300 in Skye Bank”, they alleged.
“May we ask, is this pension and gratuity for 19 years after disengagement or is its pension arrears for 19 years; what is the money for? The same payment that was made in 2008 is the same payment they made in 2010”.
“What is it that makes our case different? Do we not have wives, children and dependants? Does the fact that we are not politicians or elite in this country mean that we must be allowed to suffer and die over our rights, 19 years after disagreement”.
We appeal to the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to promptly come and liberate the 1991 retrenched staff of Nigerian Ports Authority by ordering NPA management to implement the Supreme Court judgment, the aged ex-workers pleaded in the petition.
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